Assignment: Effective Conclusions,”Assignment: Effective ConclusionsAssignment: Effective ConclusionsAssignment: Effective ConclusionsAn effective conclusion will serve two purposes: It will summarize the speech and provide closure.Just as you learned ways to introduce a speech, you can learn how to conclude one. We will begin by considering the purposes of conclusions, and then we will ex- plore methods to help you achieve those purposes.Summarize the Speech A conclusion is a speaker’s last chance to review his or her central idea and main ideas for the audience.Reemphasize the Central Idea in a Memorable Way The conclusions of many famous speeches rephrase the central idea in a memorable way. For example,R EC APTechniques for Effective Introductions • Use an illustration or anecdote.• Present startling facts or statistics.• Share a quotation.• Employ appropriate humor.• Ask a rhetorical question.• Refer to historical or recent events.• Reveal something about yourself.• Make note of the occasion.• Acknowledge the speeches before yours.194 CHAPTER 8 Introducing and Concluding Your SpeechGeneral Douglas MacArthur’s farewell to the nation at the end of his career con- cluded with these memorable words:“Old soldiers never die
they just fade away.” And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away—an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Good-bye.22
Likewise, when on July 4, 1939, New York Yankees legend Lou Gehrig addressed his fans in an emotional farewell to a baseball career cut short by a diagnosis of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), he concluded with the memorable line,
I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.23
But memorable endings are not the exclusive property of famous speakers. With practice, most people can prepare similarly effective conclusions. Chapter 10 offers ideas for using language to make your statements more memorable. As a preliminary example of the memorable use of language, here is how Noelle concluded her speech on phony academic institutions on the Internet:
What we have learned from all this is that we, and only we, have the power to stop [fraudulent learning institutions]. So we don’t get www.conned.24
This speaker’s clever play on “dot.com” helped her audience remember her topic and central idea.
The end of your speech is your last chance to impress the central idea on your audience. Do it in such a way that they cannot help but remember it.
Restate the Main Ideas In addition to reemphasizing the central idea of the speech, the conclusion is also likely to restate the main ideas. Note how John effec- tively summarized the main ideas of his speech on emissions tampering, casting the summary as an expression of his fears about the problem and the actions that could ease those fears:
I’m frightened. Frightened that nothing I could say would encourage the 25 percent of emissions-tampering Americans to change their ways and correct the factors that cause their autos to pollute disproportionately. Frightened that the American public will not respond to a crucial issue unless the harms are both immediate and observable. Frightened that the EPA will once again prove very sympathetic to industry. Three simple steps will alleviate my fear: inspection, reduction in lead con- tent, and, most importantly, awareness.25
Most speakers summarize their main ideas in the first part of the conclusion or as part of the transition between the body of the speech and its conclusion.
Provide Closure Probably the most obvious purpose of a conclusion is to bring closure—to cue the audience that the speech is coming to an end by making it “sound finished.”
Use Verbal or Nonverbal Cues to Signal the End of the Speech You can attain closure both verbally and nonverbally. Verbal techniques include using such transitional words and phrases as “finally,”“for my last point,” and perhaps even “in conclusion.”
You may remember that “in conclusion” appears on that list of instructors’ pet peeves at the beginning of the chapter. Like opening your speech by asking a rhetorical question, signaling your closing by saying “in conclusion” is not inherently wrong. It is
closure The quality of a conclusion that makes a speech “sound finished”
Effective Conclusions 195
a pet peeve of some instructors because of the carelessness with which student speakers often use it. Such a cue gives listeners unspoken per- mission to tune out. (Notice what students do when their professor sig- nals the end of class: Books and notebooks slam shut, pens are stowed away, and the class generally stops listening.) A concluding transition needs to be followed quickly by the final statement of the speech.
You can also signal closure with nonverbal cues. You may want to pause between the body of your speech and its conclusion, slow your speaking rate, move out from behind a podium to make a final im- passioned plea to your audience, or signal with falling vocal inflection that you are making your final statement.
Motivate the Audience to Respond Another way to provide closure to your speech is to motivate your audience to respond in some way. If your speech is informative, you may want your audience to take some sort of appropriate action—write a letter, buy a product, make a telephone call, or get involved in a cause. In fact, an action step is essential to the persuasive organizational strategy called the moti- vated sequence, which we discuss in Chapter 15.
At the close of her speech on negligent landlords, Melanie in- cluded a simple audience response as part of her action step:
By a show of hands, how many people in this room rely on rental housing? Look around. It’s a problem that affects us all, if not directly, then through a majority of our friends. . . .26
Another speaker ended a speech to an audience of travel agents by recommend- ing these specific action steps:
• Continuously develop and improve your professional and business skills.
• Embrace and utilize the new technologies. You are either riding on the new technology highway, or you are stand- ing in the dust, left behind.
• Continuously build and strengthen your top industry organizations locally and nationally so their brands, endorsement, and influence can work powerfully on your behalf.
• Develop a passion for this business and inspire the same in your employees and co-workers.27
In both of the preceding examples, the speakers draw on the principle of proximity, discussed in this chapter, to motivate their audiences. When audience members feel that they are or could be personally involved or affected, they are more likely to respond to your message.
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